


The Quixotic's Gamble

by love_killed_the_superstar



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Canon Lesbian Character, Dialogue Heavy, F/F, First Meetings, Lesbian Character of Color, Libraries, Marriage Proposal, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 03:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16526297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: She sees the shadow first. Then the button up. Then the tattoo – some kind of rainbow pyramid design – on her chest, just above her cleavage, which Pearl's gaze lingers on a beat too long. Then finally, her gaze travels up to the stranger's face. She's smiling down at Pearl, one hand dragging back through dreads dyed all the colours of the rainbow. She is, without a doubt, the most blatant lesbian Pearl has ever had the confused pleasure of laying eyes on.“Hi there.”“Who are you?”“The girl who's gonna marry you.”Oh. Pearl squares her shoulders.





	The Quixotic's Gamble

**Author's Note:**

> Been listening to the Hadestown soundtrack, and 'Come Home With Me I' inspired this piece. I experimented a bit and wrote all of the dialogue first, inserting actions and narrative later on, so it might read a bit rigidly. Sorry for that. I just really wanted to build up Pearl and Bismuth's banter and work out their characters in a modern setting from there, I suppose.  
> Also, cause it's an unusual word I guess, Quixotic's definition: "unrealistically optimistic or having a comically chivalrous approach to life".

The library is bustling by the time November rolls around. Campus is vibrant and loud with students in the transition between the echoes of Halloween and the doom that is final deadlines quickly approaching. Pearl, despite cooping herself up in the quiet study section of the library, is surrounded by a steady hum of noise. She's just considering putting some music on to cancel out the murmur of many voices around her when one cuts through the rest.

“Excuse me.”

She sees the shadow first. Then the button up. Then the tattoo – some kind of rainbow pyramid design – on her chest, just above her cleavage, which Pearl's gaze lingers on a beat too long. Then finally, her gaze travels up to the stranger's face. She's smiling down at Pearl, one hand dragging back through dreads dyed all the colours of the rainbow. She is, without a doubt, the most blatant lesbian Pearl has ever had the confused pleasure of laying eyes on.

“Er... hello?”

The woman's smile widens.

“Hi there.”

“Who are you?”

“The girl who's gonna marry you.”

 _Oh._ Pearl squares her shoulders, corners of her mouth twitching in slight irritation.

“Is that right? I've never been proposed to by a complete stranger in a library before.”

“It seems the universe was saving the experience for you because it knew I was coming along,” the stranger replies, as smooth as can be. “Makes me more memorable.”

Pearl rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to her textbook page.

“I see. Well, I'm flattered, but frankly, I came to the library because I have a dissertation to be working on.”

The woman pays no mind to Pearl's obvious disinterest and flops down into the seat opposite, resting her chin in her hands and beaming across the table at her.

“As do I, but we could both use a break, right? I see you working here all the time, you know. And every time I think, this is her. This is my match.”

“Oh really?” Pearl's eyebrows shoot up, and once again she tears her eyes away from the words on the page to stare up at the woman incredulously. “You think we're compatible? Just because we both happen to spend an adequate amount of time studying in the university library? I could be anyone in thousands. Or did you just happen to approach me because I'm also a lesbian?”

The woman's eyes dart down to the pride pin on Pearl's sweater.

“Well, that's certainly raised my hopes that you'll say yes. As you can imagine, a lot of girls around here don't take kindly to a fox such as myself propositioning them.”

“You think this is a girl taking _kindly_ to your declaration of love?”

“Well you haven't said no.”

“I haven't said yes, either.”

The woman nods a few times, firmly, folding her arms and leaning forward a little.

“True. True, very true, you make an excellent point. Allow me to do the same. We'd make an amazing team. Wife and wife, against the world.”

“I don't even know your name,” Pearl deadpans.

“Bismuth Aduba.” She extends her arm, holding out a hand for Pearl to shake. “And yours?”

Pearl doesn't shake.

“Wow. Wow, oh, wow. You're proposing to a girl whose name you don't even know? Hasn't had a very high success rate, huh?”

“Clearly, since I'm talking to you.”

Pearl sighs, rubs her temples. Bismuth's dark fingers absently trace circles on the desk, flowers, hearts, as she watches Pearl intently, not the slightest bit thrown by Pearl's refusal to shake her hand.

“Well. I'm very flattered by this, it's a first for me. But I refuse to accept marriage proposals from girls I barely know.”

“And what about boys you barely know?”

“The thought never even crosses my mind.”

Bismuth barks out a laugh. “Excellent, excellent. So, your name?”

Studying her face, Pearl relents. “...My name is Pearl.”

“Pearl.” Bismuth says it a few times, trying it out in her mouth, polishing it. “That's beautiful. Kind of antique, but you rock it.”

“Why, _thank_ you. You're _so_ kind.”

“And you have sarcasm! Just another reason why we're perfect together!”

Pearl sighs again, louder, and tucks her chin into the palm of her hand, watching the girl across from her. She certainly feels as though she should find this insistence annoying, but she can't bring herself to. It's kind of nice, having someone's undivided attention, after months of playing second best to a Gen Z hippie obsessed with the stars. And she can't see a trace of mean-spirited humour on Bismuth's face. If it's a prank, she deserves some kind of TV award.

“You're... really not gonna let this go, are you, Bismuth?”

Bismuth's eyes soften.

“I'll let it go if you tell me that you want me to stop.”

Pearl mulls this over, and slides a bookmark into her textbook before shutting it and setting it to one side. “I would, but your persistence is, for once, something that I'm not disgusted and creeped out by. You know, I think that's actually a sincere compliment!”

Bismuth lets out a roar of a laugh.

“Me too, wow! So you're kinda digging this?”

“I... guess?” Pearl feels pretty puzzled herself, to be honest. “How did you expect this to play out?”

Bismuth hums, stroking her chin, before shrugging and admitting, “My strategy is to bullshit it until I have nothing left to stand on. I wasn't expecting it to get this far, really. I pegged you as the type with enough sense to shut me down.”

Pearl's jaw drops. “I don't think you can judge! You literally just proposed to me five seconds into meeting me!”

“No, no, I dig it,” Bismuth says quickly, an earnest smile on her face. “I see you for who you are now. Or at least, what I know of you from talking for longer than five seconds.”

“And what exactly do you know about me, Bismuth?” Pearl asks, leaning back a little in her chair.

“That you're Pearl. You're a dreamer. You're hard-working, maybe a little cynical, but also a hopeless romantic. You think it's childish of me to be so open with my feelings, but you also kind of love it. Am I right on the money?”

“...Well, you're not entirely wrong.”

Bismuth pumps her fist above her head. “So it's a victory!”

“I wouldn't call that a victory,” Pearl says quickly, glancing around self-consciously at the few heads that turned at Bismuth's outburst. “I think your optimism will get you punched some day, if I'm being honest with you, Bismuth.”

“It's already gotten me punched before, Pearl, and I don't doubt I'll get punched again,” Bismuth agrees cheerfully, her smile unwavering. “In my very correct opinion, there are things in life worth getting a punch over.”

“Like the girl in the library who you don't even know,” Pearl fills in flatly.

“Don't be like that, Pearl! Our souls know each other, from another lifetime. You don't feel that?”

Pearl shakes her head. “Not at all.”

“Really? I feel like we've had a real cosmic connection. Okay, okay, maybe not another lifetime. Maybe another universe? An alternate reality where we... were running an underground boxing ring. Or we were fighting together, in a war against fascism. Or we were aliens from outer space, finding the Earth for the first time and relishing the rain and the grass.” Her eyes sparkle as her imagination runs wild, and it's a pretty endearing sight. Pearl almost feels bad trying to make fun of it, but something compels her to anyway.

“You relishing 'the grass' right _now_?”

“Oh, ha ha.” Bismuth rolls her eyes fondly, seemingly unfazed by Pearl's cynicism. “I'm just saying how I feel. There's something really _nebulaic_ about the two of us being together.”

“Nebulaic isn't a word.”

“Is too. It's like _cosmic._ It's powerful, it's spacey...”

“You've been spending too much time with Greg Universe,” Pearl mutters under her breath.

Bismuth stops, blinking in surprise.

“Oh, you know him?”

“Unfortunately, yes. My ex-girlfriend's boyfriend,” Pearl explains, keeping her voice curt. She'd rather not go into the finer mechanics of her relationship with Rose (they've been so distant lately they might as well be exes, in her opinion).

Bismuth hums. “Now isn't that interesting... so our paths were always destined to align, huh?”

“I don't think I believe in destiny.”

“How can you not believe in destiny? Everything falls into place, Pearl! It's the big picture!”

Mulling this over for a few seconds, Pearl shrugs, reaching for her water bottle. “I believe... that we make our own luck,” she says carefully. “Destiny doesn't exist, because we make the choices that take us to the right or wrong places.”

“Let me paint you a picture, Pearl,” Bismuth begins, as Pearl begins to drink. “Ten, fifteen years from now, we're married, we have a kid, he asks us how we met. How are we supposed to look him in the eye and say it wasn't destiny, with the way we're talking right now?”

Pearl chokes on her mouthful of water and barely manages to swallow it down, taking a few moments to cough and clear her airways.

“I – I – I'm sorry? Five minutes of conversation and you're already bringing our hypothetical _child_ into this?”

“Well, sure,” Bismuth says with a shrug, reaching over to pat Pearl's back as she continues to cough. “He wants us to be happy! Don't we owe him that?”

“He doesn't even exist yet!” Pearl points out, taking a few deep breaths. “Anyway... I'm sure _Steven_ would have enough sense to call destiny into question, if I had a hand in raising him.”

Bismuth raises an eyebrow.

“Steven? That's _Greg's_ hypothetical child, not ours.”

“We can have a Steven too! It _has_ been known to happen in the world.”

“Nu-uh. We'll name our kid after something cool, like a sword or something.”

“A sword?” Pearl's eyes narrow.

“Yeah! I'm really into metalwork. I've been forging my own swords since I was a wee'un.” Bismuth reaches for her phone and begins to flick through apps in search of some pictures.

“No way.”

“No, look, here! You think I'd lie to you?” She thrusts the phone into Pearl's face. Pearl takes the phone and examines the slightly blurry photograph of Bismuth, dreads tied back into a ponytail, proudly brandishing what at least _looks_ like a sword.

“Surely that's illegal. And besides, we barely know each other, so you can hardly blame me for doubting you. I mean, You could be a pathological liar for all I know, couldn't you?” she points out.

“Well, let's get to know each other better!” Bismuth decides, without missing a beat. “You, me and some pizza. What do you say?”

“Eh... I'll pass on the pizza. I don't have a disorder, before you worry yourself, but a lunch date has never appealed to me. I eat to live. I don't live to eat.”

Bismuth shakes her head in dismay.

“That, without a doubt, is the saddest thing I've ever heard.”

Pearl's lips quirk into a wry smile. “Greg Universe can be your pizza buddy, then,” she shoots back.

“Well, what about coffee? Can't you be my coffee date?” Bismuth pleads. “Buddy sounds too casual. I like to think we're a little more serious than that.”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Pearl retorts, “How many times do I have to point out we met a matter of minutes ago? We're hardly even _casual_.”

“Then we should change that,” Bismuth counters, smooth as ever. “Please, Pearl, do me the honour of having coffee with me?”

She holds out her hand, extending the quixotic olive branch, and this time Pearl takes it, squeezing her hand as she shakes.

“I'm a tea drinker, but... sure. All right.” As Bismuth's smile grows impossibly wide, Pearl quickly adds, “But you're paying.”

“You mean an evolved lesbian like you doesn't want to go Dutch?” she jokes, rising to her feet and pulling Pearl up with her. She swings her tattered backpack over her shoulder and goes to help Pearl pack away stationary into a baby blue pencil case.

“Absolutely not,” Pearl admonishes, powering down her laptop and stuffing it into her satchel. “You're taking me away from valuable studying time, you know!”

Bismuth reaches over and takes the satchel, chivalrous as can be, and says, “Think of this next hour lost as... interest. We're investing in our future, my love.”

Just as smoothly, Pearl smiles sweetly and grabs it back.

“Again, _much_ too early to be throwing the L word around.”

She turns and heads towards the library exit, feeling a special kind of warmth in her gut as Bismuth falls into step beside her just a few moments later, following her lead with the smugness of someone about to buy their date some incredible green tea.

“Too early, noted. I'll save it for something special.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! The world could always use more bispearl! I wouldn't mind writing more of these two in this particular setting buuuut I make no promises because I'm terrible at following through with things. If anyone has any prompts they might help, though. <3


End file.
